Four e-commerce firms, including Snapdeal, get notice for ‘selling animal parts’

Four e-commerce firms, including Snapdeal, get notice for ‘selling animal parts’

Asking Snapdeal, IndiaMART, Wishnbuy and Cartcomparison to immediately remove these products and any information about them from their websites, the forest department has given them a month to reply to the notices or face action for violating the Wildlife Protection Act.

Ritesh Sirothia of STF (Wildlife) told The Indian Express that the traders were not just selling these parts directly to customers but also through these online companies. He said hemipenis were obtained after killing at least 38 monitor lizards. (Representative Image)

Four e-commerce companies have been asked by the special task force of Madhya Pradesh forest department why they should not be prosecuted for allegedly selling animal body parts like hemipenis of monitor lizards. Asking Snapdeal, IndiaMART, Wishnbuy and Cartcomparison to immediately remove these products and any information about them from their websites, the forest department has given them a month to reply to the notices or face action for violating the Wildlife Protection Act.

The notices follow arrest of four persons from Indore and one tantrik from Khargone in June for selling dried hemipenis of monitor lizards as “hatta jodi” and “siyar singhi’’ (jackal horns). The samples seized during raids were sent for laboratory tests after the traders claimed that they were derived from plants.

Ritesh Sirothia of STF (Wildlife) told The Indian Express that the traders were not just selling these parts directly to customers but also through these online companies. He said hemipenis were obtained after killing at least 38 monitor lizards.